Road CyclingIt is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. -- Ernest Hemingway

A number of squeaky residents show up for a town hall meeting to complain and their mayor say he wants to go with the will of the people. Sounds like a gutless mayor who's looking to stay in office to feed from the trough. No logic here. Sad.

I am a road cyclist and I rarely see a "bike lane" (although I have ridden on one 3 times). And I do enjoy the MUPS.

The fact is... these people live in what is still a free Democratic Republic. Which means that if they don't want no stink'in bike lanes... OR EVEN BICYCLES... they have every right to ban them.

And sure... some lawyers would love to spend time, effort, and money defending the public right to ride... bicycles, horses, skates and skateboards. Or even strolling down the street nude-jump-roping as well I'd guess. But honestly... people have a right and an obligation to build communities they would like to live in.

The REALLY sad part is: The ridicule and name calling in threads like this make cyclist appear to be the kind of people I wouldn't want riding through MY neighborhood ether.

If you are a city official, you need to learn the difference between the vast majority of the "the public", and a handful of whiny old grumps. (And I do mean *old*, because the grumps are typically elderly.)

In Longmont CO, there has been an analogous situation with a few whiny old grumps complaining about airplane noise. One obsessed woman started an organization dedicated to closing the airport, (and she lives SIX MILES from it). As step one she found 5 elderly people to join her in suing the skydiving operation for (imaginary) loss to their property values. (The skydiving planes are small turboprops which are quieter than the jets and piston aircraft also based there.) They lost after forcing the skydiving business to run up huge six-figure legal bills. So of course they are now trying to appeal the case. Tens of thousands of people live near the airport, and only five households joined in the suit. The airport manager got so disgusted by the city council trying to appease the whiners, instead of standing up to them, that he quit after working there for 19 years.

If you are a city official, you need to learn the difference between the vast majority of the "the public", and a handful of whiny old grumps. (And I do mean *old*, because the grumps are typically elderly.)

Absolutely. And learn how to filter legitimate feedback from ludicrous feedback.

Absolutely. And learn how to filter legitimate feedback from ludicrous feedback.

Oh, that just reminded me: In a recent year, ~1000 noise complaints to the airport, (out of an annual total of 1500), came from just one of the grumps. He had rigged up a noise meter to a computer, so that every time the ambient sound exceeded what he thought was appropriate, it automatically emailed a noise complaint to the airport, complaining about the skydiving plane. That generated as many as 44 complaints per day, even on days when the skydiving business was not operating.

Oh, that just reminded me: In a recent year, ~1000 noise complaints to the airport, (out of an annual total of 1500), came from just one of the grumps. He had rigged up a noise meter to a computer, so that every time the ambient sound exceeded what he thought was appropriate, it automatically emailed a noise complaint to the airport, complaining about the skydiving plane. That generated as many as 44 complaints per day, even on days when the skydiving business was not operating.

I kept waiting for Daniel Tosh or Stephen Colbert to come in and let me know that it was all satire. Are these people insane? Paint pollution? Tattooing their daughters? My goodness, what miserable human beings these people must be.

living nearby, i can tell you that this is not satire. what's hilarious is that coronado is considered one of the friendliest places (and easiest because it's so flat) places in the county
to ride your bike. i see people of all ages with all types of bicycles riding there any day of the week. not just recreation but to school, the store, etc. there are 3 very busy streets
in the city that few ride because of the traffic and those streets not having wide shoulders. otherwise, the streets are pretty quiet and/or wider than many. the speed limit is 25 mph
for a majority of the city and the local gendarmes are notoriously efficient at maintaining the speed limit. personally, i don't think the bike lane striping is necessary for a vast
majority of streets but it could be helpful for a few. the entire town/residents does/do seem to be (mostly) stuck in the eisenhower administration era which is a mixed blessing.
between the locals and the out of town tourists/neighboring residents cycling, there are always plenty of cyclists and i don't see that changing whether they add striping or not.

If you are a city official, you need to learn the difference between the vast majority of the "the public", and a handful of whiny old grumps. (And I do mean *old*, because the grumps are typically elderly.)

In Longmont CO, there has been an analogous situation with a few whiny old grumps complaining about airplane noise. One obsessed woman started an organization dedicated to closing the airport, (and she lives SIX MILES from it). As step one she found 5 elderly people to join her in suing the skydiving operation for (imaginary) loss to their property values. (The skydiving planes are small turboprops which are quieter than the jets and piston aircraft also based there.) They lost after forcing the skydiving business to run up huge six-figure legal bills. So of course they are now trying to appeal the case. Tens of thousands of people live near the airport, and only five households joined in the suit. The airport manager got so disgusted by the city council trying to appease the whiners, instead of standing up to them, that he quit after working there for 19 years.

It reminds me of a situation in Arlington, Texas when I lived there. There was a huge "hike & bike" plan that was being voted on. A few grumpy local business owners fought it tooth and nail, and swore it would cost Arlington taxpayers BILLIONS of dollars in construction, traffic congestion, decreased gas mileage due to congestion, etc. They would always lead with "And bikes are ok, as long as they're in parks," not realizing that most of the money in the several million (not even close to 1 billon, heck maybe not more than 0.01 billon) dollar 10 year plan was actually for parks. After continually harping on the BILLIONS of dollars line, I finally looked it up myself and figured out that the actual on-street striping in the plan was something just in the low thousands over 10 years. Luckily, the old grumps ultimately lost.

I am a road cyclist and I rarely see a "bike lane" (although I have ridden on one 3 times). And I do enjoy the MUPS.

The fact is... these people live in what is still a free Democratic Republic. Which means that if they don't want no stink'in bike lanes... OR EVEN BICYCLES... they have every right to ban them.

And sure... some lawyers would love to spend time, effort, and money defending the public right to ride... bicycles, horses, skates and skateboards. Or even strolling down the street nude-jump-roping as well I'd guess. But honestly... people have a right and an obligation to build communities they would like to live in.

The REALLY sad part is: The ridicule and name calling in threads like this make cyclist appear to be the kind of people I wouldn't want riding through MY neighborhood ether.

While I get your point...you also have to understand the court of public opinion.

The gals quoted in the video are just being absurd...seriously absurd. Without even going into stereotyping, their statements alone are inviting ridicule. As cyclists, we are trying to raise public support and awareness of what we do. Bike lanes are safer, we all know this.

When a bunch of people stand up against something and offer up such nonsense as those examples against it, it is only natural to retort. not a single comment in that video is relevant to the situation at hand.

It reminds me of a situation in Arlington, Texas when I lived there. There was a huge "hike & bike" plan that was being voted on. A few grumpy local business owners fought it tooth and nail, and swore it would cost Arlington taxpayers BILLIONS of dollars in construction, traffic congestion, decreased gas mileage due to congestion, etc. They would always lead with "And bikes are ok, as long as they're in parks," not realizing that most of the money in the several million (not even close to 1 billon, heck maybe not more than 0.01 billon) dollar 10 year plan was actually for parks. After continually harping on the BILLIONS of dollars line, I finally looked it up myself and figured out that the actual on-street striping in the plan was something just in the low thousands over 10 years. Luckily, the old grumps ultimately lost.

This happened recently in Waxahachie as well. The city wanted to create a bike lane that connects to the two MUPs in the city.

The fact is... these people live in what is still a free Democratic Republic. Which means that if they don't want no stink'in bike lanes... OR EVEN BICYCLES... they have every right to ban them.

Not if the state law says:

Laws Applicable to Bicycle Use21200. (a) Every person riding a bicycle upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this division... except those provisions which by their very nature can have no application. California Department of Motor Vehicles, CVC 21200, Laws Applicable to Bicycle Use: Peace Officer Exemption"
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_law_in_California

The casinos...errr..."the citizens" of Black Hawk CO tried to ban bicycles a couple years ago, and the CO Supreme Court shot them down because a bicycle is a vehicle in CO. When it was pointed out that there had never been a recorded case of a cyclist being hit by a car in Black Hawk, they explained they were "being proactive". BTW the speed limits in Black Hawk are 15mph.
Source: Colorado Supreme Court overturns Black Hawk's ban on bikes in city - The Denver Post